[The morphologic diversity and complexity of synapses and microcircuits].

After mentioning the dendrite arborizations and the dendritic spines which represent an important site of synaptic interactions and neuronal plasticity, the main synaptic types, chemical and electrical, excitatory and inhibitory are mentioned and their morphological characteristics and dynamic properties are discussed. In the second part, the synaptic connections between several nerve cells, and the module principle of cerebellar and cerebral cortex are described. Significant progress is expected from the application of the 14C-deoxyglucose technique which is used as a histochemical marker of neuronal activity.